City dare to dream after Villa vanquished

Manchester City's fans are daring to dream again. Thirty years have passed since their last major trophy and it is necessary to go back to 1969 to trace their last FA Cup, but Stuart Pearce and his players have, at the very least, brought hope to a club where the supporters had begun to fear disappointment simply came with the territory.

His England credentials further enhanced, Pearce will lead his team into their first FA Cup quarter-final for 13 years after goals from Georgios Samaras and Darius Vassell combined with some stout defending during a nerve-shredding finale once Steven Davis had scored in the 85th minute. Villa being unable to add a further twist to a hitherto one-sided replay, the winners of tonight's replay between West Ham and Bolton Wanderers will visit the City of Manchester stadium on Monday, when Pearce will presumably hope there are fewer than the 15,000 empty seats that were visible last night.

The poor attendance, despite prices as low as £5, will do little for the competition's beleaguered reputation but those who turned up will regard it as money well spent and there were scenes of great jubilation at the final whistle. "We've cranked up the excitement levels," said Pearce. "I'm very pleased with that. There's a long way to go. Bolton and West Ham are both above us in the league and we could end up with Chelsea or Liverpool in the semi-finals but at least we're at home in the next round.

"The supporters here are desperate to win something and after following this club all the way to the Second Division they probably deserve a little bit of payback. Whether we can win the FA Cup for them, I don't know. But I could retire happy if I ended that 30-year wait."

Pearce said it was one of the best displays of his year in charge. It was certainly a fitting way for the club to say farewell to Roy Clarke, part of their FA Cup-winning team in 1956, who was remembered before the kick-off with a minute-long standing ovation.

City ought really to have beaten Villa convincingly in the original tie and they played as if harbouring a smouldering injustice. They were snappier in the tackle, first to the loose balls, quicker of mind and, until the final minutes, superior in every department.

They also appear to have a striker who is blessed with the predatory instincts to trouble the most accomplished defence. Not much was known about Samaras when he signed for £6m from Heerenveen in January but he has quickly set about making an impression. When he latched on to Albert Riera's 17th-minute pass, dinked the ball past Olof Mellberg and beat Villa's goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen at the second attempt it was the Greek international's fourth goal in his six appearances for the club. "We think it was a wise investment," said Pearce. "He's still got an awful lot to learn but he was a real handful for them."

Such was the imbalance of talent between the two teams that Villa's challenge, if that is the right word, might have been extinguished before half-time. Joey Barton could not get a full enough contact on Stephen Jordan's left-wing cross when only two yards out and, as David O'Leary's team threatened to capitulate, some splendid work from Vassell left Trevor Sinclair bearing down on goal with only Sorensen to beat but his shot was deflected clear by the Danish goalkeeper's outstretched boot.

O'Leary refused to criticise his players but he made it clear he had berated his defenders at half-time, demanding an immediate improvement. Instead City doubled their lead within three minutes of the restart and again there was some debatable defending involved. At least three opportunities to clear the ball were passed up as Barton's low cross ricocheted around the penalty area before Riera swung out his left foot and Vassell turned the ball in from three yards. Vassell's profligacy was a major reason why City had needed a replay in the first place but this was his third goal against his former club since switching to City last summer.

By then Samaras, the victim of some terrible challenges, had departed with a dead leg but City continued to dominate until Davis burst through to set up a grandstand finish that nobody could have expected. An equaliser would have been a travesty but Villa, abject until then, had left it too late.